


Composition

by mage_cat



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Fusion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-21
Updated: 2015-10-21
Packaged: 2018-04-27 10:00:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5043997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mage_cat/pseuds/mage_cat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steven thinks listening to some Earth music might help Peridot like the planet more. When it turns into a dance party, she comes away with a new perspective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Composition

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written fic in ages, but watching "Too Far" has infected me with this ship, so this happened. 
> 
> Set sometime after the drill arc is is complete and likely to make no sense in the show's timeline as soon as it comes back from hiatus. In the meantime, enjoy.
> 
> Cross-posted to Tumblr here: http://mage-cat.tumblr.com/post/131729356070/composition

“Log date 8241: Steven is continuing his campaign to get me to care about this Gem-forsaken planet as something other than the place where I am trapped. I do not see what listening to music on the beach is going to accomplish, but I have learned that resisting Steven’s efforts in these matters is largely futile. Also involved to today’s pointless plans are Steven’s human friend Connie and, in my seemingly eternal need for a chaperon, Amethyst. End log.”

* * *

The four sat in a loose circle on the sand as Steven fiddled with his music player. “Alright, I spent an hour last night putting together the perfect playlist for Peridot. I hope I got it right.” He tapped the device one last time and sound began to come out of it.

“Your device sounds like it's charging up to blast something.”

“Well, pretty much all these songs I chose use a lot of synthesizers. They make me think of you. Now listen, the melody is coming in.”

Peridot had to admit to herself that the sound of the music was pleasing. It reminded her of a well-functioning ship or her arm attachments as she executed a complex repair. Her hands clenched at the thought of her lost limb enhancers. She felt the sand gather in her palms and grate between her fingers. She had come to almost enjoy the greater tactile feedback of her bare hands, but she still missed the functionality of the Homeworld technology, mostly access to her old research and the ability to reach high shelves without needing to find something to stand on.

The song ended and was replaced with one that paired the high-pitched synthesizers with heavy drumming. “The beat makes this one really great to dance to,” Steven said as he got up to demonstrate. Connie and Amethyst quickly joined him, each moving separately, in their own interpretation of the song. Dancing was not a completely foreign concept to Peridot, but she had never done it much. She stayed sitting.

“Come on, you nerd,” Amethyst called out over the music. “It's fun.”

Peridot stood uneasily as Amethyst bopped her way over. “Don't think about it too much. Let the music move you.” Realizing that, at this point, her staying still was more awkward than any other course action, Peridot began to move in time to the music.

Once Peridot looked like she was starting to get to hang of the beat, Amethyst grabbed a hold of her wrist and pulled her into a quick turn. The green Gem recovered and soon the two fell in step with each other, both of them laughing, enjoying themselves. As the refrain returned to the same spot where Amethyst had first grabbed Peridot, they prepared to repeat the turn.

Steven stopped dancing when he caught sight of a sudden bright light. In a moment, Connie was by his side, both of them staring at the spot where the dance partners had been, the spot that now had a single person standing in it, steadying herself.

She was about Garnet's height, maybe a little taller, her skin streaked pale green and purple. Her white hair was in a slightly shaggy bob cut, and her four eyes were behind a translucent lavender visor. The gem above it, like the one on her chest, was banded in darker versions of her skin colors. She wore a long, sleeveless, forest green top and plum-colored leggings tucked into black boots. “Wow, head-rush.” She smiled and waved at the kids, “Hi. I'm Fluorite.”

“Giant woman,” Steven whispered, starry-eyed, before turning to run toward the Temple and shouting, “Pearl! Garnet! You have to see this!”

Fluorite and Connie began to jog after him. “How do you know you're Fluorite?” Connie asked.

“Oh, as soon as a Gem forms, she knows her name and her general directives. Well, the directive thing is a bit more complicated with fusions since it is a combination of the directives of the component Gems and the goal that they fused to accomplish. In my case, I do not really have a directive since Amethyst and Peridot fused by accident. Logically, I won't be here very long, but Steven would be disappointed if I don't stick around for at least a little while, and Garnet and Pearl really should know about me.”

Connie stared blankly at the new fusion. She wasn't sure she had ever heard either Amethyst or Peridot say so much, so coherently, without a pause for breath.

“To answer your next question, Peridot knows almost nothing about fusion, but Amethyst knows all this. She just would never articulate it the way I do.”

As they neared the Temple, Fluorite slowed to a walking pace. When she spotted the remaining Crystal Gems on the deck she stopped and spread her arms wide. “Hey, you two! Check me out!” She settled into parade rest with a beaming smile as they came down the stairs. Surprise was clear on Pearl's face. Garnet was, as usual, much harder to read. “No really, I know you have the standard tactical questions. Can we get them out the way?”

While the Crystal Gems had, in fact, developed a standard list of questions to evaluate new fusions during the war, one they had used again when Amethyst first started fusing, Pearl asked the first question as much from concern as memory. “How do you feel?”

“Amazing!” Fluorite spoke a mile a minute as she began to gesture wildly, “There is no way Authority-approved battle fusions feel this good. They wouldn't be legal. I mean, I think some of it is Peridot riding high on her first time ever fusing, but I feel really, really good. Like, I'm working with two totally disparate knowledge bases, and they're clicking together, and the analytical possibilities are _fascinating_. Also, it's really cool to be eye-level with you, Garnet. Being small is the pits. And, I kind of want to punch something just to see how hard I can break it. It's not like Sugilite smashing. I actually want to examine the pieces afterward.”

Garnet took charge of the questioning. Was she starting to smile? Fluorite couldn't tell. “I think it would be best to save the battle testing for a more controlled environment, but still, do you think you could summon a weapon?”

“I… I do not actually know.” Fluorite paused for a moment before returning to what seemed to be her standard, rapid-fire speech. “I could probably summon Amethyst's whip, but Peridot didn't even know that lower-ranking Gems could summon weapons at all until she saw Pearl summon her spear. After that, she was working on learning the battle-oriented abilities of her limb enhancers. The Authorities on Homeworld probably want to keep low-caste offensive capabilities limited to ones that they can revoke.” Fluorite's mouth shut abruptly, and her eyes widened as she realized what she had said.

She took a deep breath and dropped her gaze to her feet before continuing, much more slowly. “I know you want intel on Homeworld. I like you all and I want to trust you. I really want to trust you, but Peridot's concerns are still my concerns. If the Authorities ever discovered that she gave even remotely sensitive information to an enemy, the consequences would be… dire. Something dire happening to Peridot means that I will never exist again. I'm not comfortable with more questions.” She lifted her head just enough to see Garnet, “May I go now?”

Garnet gave a nod and Fluorite began to glow, shrinking down and spreading outwards until the glow reformed into Amethyst and Peridot facing each other, hands clasped and faces solemn.

Solemnity lasted for all of two seconds before Amethyst broke out into a huge grin and Peridot cracked a small smile accompanied by a deep emerald blush. “That. Was. Awesome, Peri!” Amethyst exclaimed as she pulled Peridot into a crushing hug. “Anytime you want to do that again, I am all for it,” she said as she let go.

“Yes, that was… extremely pleasant,” Peridot said. She cleared her throat and tried to collect herself. Her blush dimmed a bit. “I will… need some time to collect my thoughts on the matter.” She began to walk away before pausing to face Garnet, “I may be beginning to understand your reluctance to un-fuse.”

Steven and Connie followed Peridot as Pearl and Garnet approached Amethyst.

“Amethyst, are you alright?” Pearl asked. “There didn’t seem to be a lot of _you_ in there.”

Amethyst looked confused for a moment before she understood. “Oh, you mean because Fluorite is a mega-nerd? Na. I mean, it didn’t feel like it then. I’m interested in stuff around me all the time. You know, that’s why I eat and sleep and collect stuff and how I found out about underground wrestling. Fluorite was just, I donno, clearer. It’s like… Pearl, how would you describe being Opal?”

“Well, she’s very focused in that moment. She has a task to accomplish, and she’s not overly concerned with anything beyond that task. That moment is everything. It feels like forever.”

“Except it’s not and as soon as something reminds her of that, she’s gone. But, anyway, the focus. I _stink_ at focus. I do stuff because it’s fun, and when I’m bored, I stop. Peridot doesn’t really _get_ fun, but she loves examining stuff. She doesn’t think it’s boring. I think Fluorite just gets excited about cool stuff the way I do, but then she wants to dig in and examine it the way Peridot does. So, no. Peridot did not overwhelm me in the fusion.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

As Amethyst walked off, Pearl said to Garnet, “You know who Fluorite reminds me of.”

“A fusion of two small Gems, one very physical and other very analytical, who, when they first met, wanted to wring each other’s necks?” Now Garnet was definitely smiling. “Nope. No idea who else that sounds like.”

* * *

“Log date 8242: I fused for the first time today. It was with Amethyst and entirely accidental. I did not know fusion could happen by accident. The result was a highly excitable Fluorite. While Fluorites are normally valued as front-line tacticians, this did not feel like a simple tactical advantage. True, with the component of Amethyst's considerable physical strength, I am certain any fight would have been an easy victory, but the emotions involved were nothing like I had ever expected from fusion. In Fluorite, I felt more than a simple interest, but an affection for this planet and the people here. Clearly, this was another part of Amethyst's contribution, but now that I have experienced it, I find myself considering the meaning of the word “home.”

Back in Gem-controlled territory, my life was regimented. Everything was clearly defined. I felt secure even as I watched punishments doled out and even faced them myself. On this planet, nothing is clearly defined. A Pearl is a technician and a warrior. Quartzes are undisciplined. Fusions walk around without directives. And I wonder what I might become if I stay here. I became guilty of treason to Homeworld as soon as I told the Crystal Gems about the Cluster, yet I have still been reluctant to share far less vital information with them. No matter what I do from now on, I would be foolish to expect mercy from Yellow Diamond, should I ever see her again.

Ever since I came under the custody of the Crystal Gems, I have missed my limb enhancers. For the first time, I find myself thinking about how heavy they were. If I ever got them back, would I be able to dance the way I did today? Perhaps there is something to be said for “freedom.” Peridot. Facet 5. End log.”


End file.
